


atlanta

by autisticlalna (mathonwys)



Series: casting a shadow (Shadow People AU) [11]
Category: Hermitcraft
Genre: (for real! nothing bad happens!), Fluff, Friends being supportive, Gen, Levia can sing so therefore Shadoc can too, Murmur uses ASL, Shadow People AU, Singing, stage fright
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2021-02-07 14:52:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21459841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mathonwys/pseuds/autisticlalna
Summary: " 'Dude,' Solo said, grinning from ear to ear, 'you can sing?' "aka shadoc sings atlanta by go! child because so help me i WILL write something with him that isnt sad
Series: casting a shadow (Shadow People AU) [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1522271
Comments: 1
Kudos: 45





	atlanta

**Author's Note:**

> i was disappointed to not find a guitar cover of atlanta. make that happen, internet.
> 
> fun fact: Shadoc is friends with Solo (Ren's shadow) and Phas (Cleo's shadow)! or well Solo has made it his mission to befriend every shadow 'cause he just wants everybody to get along and he's not a dick so Shadoc gets along with him. meanwhile Shadoc actually lives with Phas (or, specifically, they both live with Cleo) and altho initially Phas was jealous of him bc for the longest while Cleo basically treated her as a cat with thumbs and a grudge they now get along! mostly.
> 
> various shadows mentioned:  
Russy - NPC Grian  
Badmin - Evil Xisuma  
Salsa - Tango  
Trigger - Impulse  
Burmese - Python
> 
> please go listen to go! child

“ **No, really, your singing voice is great!** ” Solo nudged Shadoc with his elbow. The creeper shadow shied away from the contact and gave him a skeptical look; unperturbed, Solo kept smiling at him. “ **You’re a natural.** ” Murmur hummed in agreement from where he was sitting on the other side of Shadoc, effectively pinning him between two very supportive shadows.

Shadoc wasn’t really sure how he’d ended up in this situation. Or, no, he did, but it didn’t make much sense to him.

Stress had been happy to see him when Shadoc started going to the shadow daycare. The concept still made him feel a bit awkward— not really because of anything involving the daycare itself, but rather because of it reminding him of when he used to live with Stress. He supposed that this was just a natural evolution of that: her own shadow was rather docile as long as she was pacified with either ice or Iskall’s shadow, and although his stay with her had been rather bumpy (and there were still times he felt guilty for it) she’d done her best to take care of him. Plus, the shadows really needed somewhere they could go when they didn’t want to be around the hermits, and Solo especially had been all for the idea in hopes that it would allow everybody to bond.

The other shadows still weren’t kind to Murmur, but he still badly wanted to make friends, so Shadoc had agreed to start going with him. Most of the time it ended in the two of them off in their own corner, although sometimes Phas would offer for them to join the “nap buddies” if they looked especially lonely.

(It was weird seeing Phas  _ not _ being a chaotic nuisance, but apparently she had a setting that wasn’t “knock everything off Cleo’s shelves because she’s jealous and wants attention”. Shadoc still wasn’t entirely sure what their friendship was, or how she saw him, but she got along with Murmur good enough and he was fine with that.)

Anyway. As usual, Shadoc had dropped by the daycare with Murmur to see what everyone was up to. The nap buddies were in their usual spot, Russy and Badmin were playing a board game that Shadoc was pretty sure was using tokens from at least three other board games (apparently Russy had gotten into the Monopoly box and started hoarding the little house tokens from it), and Salsa was trying to climb on Trigger while Stress lectured him about  _ no _ , you can’t bring TNT in here, I don’t care how many great ideas you have, if you want to build something dangerous do it  _ outside _ . Business as usual.

And then there was Solo. Ren’s shadow was one of the constant visitors alongside Burmese; despite the high amount of tension between a lot of the shadows, or maybe because of, the server’s first shadow was always happy to see everyone at least  _ trying  _ to get along. This time around, he’d been tuning his guitar in preparation for his next concert while listening to Shadoc and Murmur talk (or, more accurately, listening to Shadoc talk and glancing up occasionally to see Murmur sign a response). Shadoc had been laughing at a joke Murmur made— the kind of laugh that was more seen than heard, shoulders shaking as he hunched over and wheezed— when he heard Solo start strumming out a tune to check that everything was golden. It was something familiar, something Solo had played a couple of times, and without thinking Shadoc had started singing along. He didn’t know all of the lyrics, and stumbled a few times…

…and it took him a bit to realize Solo had stopped playing.

When he looked up, both Solo and Murmur were staring at him. On instinct, he withdrew in on himself; Murmur had sidled up next to him, comforting as always, while Solo looked downright starstruck. “ **Dude,** ” Solo said, grinning from ear to ear, “ **you can sing?** ”

A few minutes later, and here he was, sandwiched between Solo and Murmur while they both tried to convince him that  _ yes _ , his singing voice was good, and  _ yes _ , he’d done a good job. He shifted in his seat, visibly uncomfortable. It wasn’t like he didn’t appreciate the praise, it was just…  _ weird _ . “ **I- It’s… it’s… it’s not ** ** _that_ ** ** good,** ” he deflected, trying to ignore the feeling of his cheeks heating up as he blushed.

_ I like it, _ Murmur countered.  _ It sounded nice. _

“ **I d-don’t even know the words…** “

“ **Then I’ll teach you!** ” Solo’s enthusiasm was, unfortunately contagious. Shadoc watched with trepidation as he adjusted his sunglasses and started strumming the base chords. “ **Let’s start with the chorus, you had that part down already.** ” Head bobbing a little as he kept time, Solo hummed under his breath as he kept the melody up; when Shadoc didn’t do anything, he gave him an expectant look. Shadoc returned it with one of fearful alarm.

Murmur rested his hand on Shadoc’s. “ **It’s okay,** ” he reassured. “ **Try?** ” When Shadoc still didn’t join in, Murmur gave him the best puppy-dog look he could manage; catching on, Solo leaned over (messing up the song a little as he adjusted the guitar with him) and joined in. Despite his best efforts, a smile cracked onto Shadoc’s face; he hid it with his hand, but that didn’t stop his giggling.

Satisfied, Solo gave it another shot. This time he started off with the last couple lyrics before the first chorus: “ ** _So in this brand new day, though frightening for sure / I plan to make it something even more!_ ** ”

“ **I… can’t** ,” Shadoc started off, voice cracking; Murmur squeezed his hand reassuringly, and the anxious shadow closed his eyes. “ ** _I can’t believe it… I can’t believe that I’m alive~_ ** ”

Solo joined in as the lyrics repeated, “ ** _I can’t / I can’t believe it / I can’t believe that I’m alive!_ ** ” Their voices mixed together, Shadoc’s more hesitant in contrast to Solo’s confidence; as they ran through the chorus a couple more times, though, Shadoc’s voice got louder as he grew more comfortable.

“ ** _Said hello to someone new / What kind of luck I have that / I could meet anyone but I met you,_ ** ” Solo sang. He tilted his head back with a smile on his face as the song continued. Shadoc did his best to sing along, despite slipping up a little on words and occasionally losing the melody. Every time he faltered, Murmur would encourage him to keep trying.

Before long, they’d run through the entire song a couple of times. Shadoc had relaxed with a smile on his face as he sang, his voice starting to carrying through the daycare; he didn’t sense everyone’s attention on him, or even that he’d managed to wake up Burmese, instead being fully focused on the feeling of Murmur and Solo sitting next to him and the music in his ears. This was fun! He was having a good time. All of the anxiety and stage fright had drained out of him with the help of his friends, and now he just… felt safe and happy. Content.

“ **I** ** _’m breathing, receiving / I know that this is true,_ ** ” Shadoc sang. “ ** _How did I make it here alive?_ ** ” He didn’t notice Solo’s voice quiet down to nothingness until it was just him singing, too focused on the words spilling out. “ ** _I’m feeling, I’m reeling / Look at this perfect view! / I can’t believe that I’m alive~_ ** ”

He was snapped out of his trance by the sound of applause. Shadoc’s eyes opened and he looked around to see everyone staring at him; Stress had started clapping, and it had rippled through the room as the shadows joined in with boundless enthusiasm. “ **I— I— Ah—** “ Blushing brightly, Shadoc locked up, frozen in place like a statue. Concerned, Murmur put his arm around Shadoc’s shoulders; the embarrassed shadow hid his face, then dove down into the floor and fled. Solo and Murmur exchanged glances, then followed.

He hadn’t gone far. Shadoc leaned against the outside wall of the daycare and steadied himself. The footsteps announcing Murmur and Solo’s arrival caused him to flinch, but this time he didn’t run as Murmur approached and hugged him. “ **Sorry,** ” he whispered into Murmur’s shoulder.

“ **That was really good,** ” Solo said with a smile. “ **Are you sure you don’t want to go up on stage with me?** ”

Shadoc shook his head vigorously. “ **N-No— I- I mean, I’m— I’m sure, I… I just… I don’t think I can deal with, um, people… people… people looking at me.** ” Solo gave him a sympathetic look and joined the hug.

“ **How about we practice more?** ” Solo suggested. “ **Not right now— unless you want to?— but… You have a good voice! We can meet up at the hippie camp or something. Give it a go.** ”

Shadoc hesitated. Murmur made an encouraging noise; Shadoc glanced at him, unsure, then smiled at Solo. “ **S-Sure, yeah, that… Okay. I can do that.** ”


End file.
